Safe to say after three Tarah Dewitt books she has solidified herself as one of my favorite romance authors. I will admit I LOVE second chance romance, but I haven’t read one about a married and then divorced couple. This was PERFECT in every sense of the word. The second I met Wren and Ellis in Savor It I wanted their story immediately. This book was just so sweet and everything I love about romance books. Their story will be sticking with me for awhile.

Magic on a page. Tarah’s characters never fails to leave me feeling so hopeful. The way she balances reality and romance, hurt and hope, love and loss, is nothing short of perfect. I’d give it a dozen stars if I could.

Tarah’s best work yet!!!! When I saw this was a 2nd chance romance, I KNEWWW I had to get my hands on it. I devoured this in 1.5 sittings. My goodness was I invested. I loved the healing, the hope, the yearning, the very slow burn. It was all so delicious. I ate it up SO quickly. I also enjoyed the Easter eggs from The Co-op. This story will stay with me for a while. Infinity stars!!!

5 stars. No notes. Ive been waiting for this ever since I finished Savour It. I needed more of spunes & Tarah delivered. This was fantastic.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for allowing me to read an ARC of Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt

Here I am again, lucky enough to have gotten to read another Tarah DeWitt book, staring at this review box wondering how in the world I write this review without getting far to gooey and personal about it. Seriously, there is something so very human and emotional about each one of her books, and even when it feels like I am scraping my poor heart up off the ground, it is worth it every time.

Second chance romance has always been a challenging genre for me. On one hand, as a lover of romance, I love it. On the other hand, the idea of lost time wrenches my heart like few other tropes do. So needless to say, I knew I was going to read this book, but I gave a fair warning to my husband that things were about to be a bit emotional (cue me misty eyed and leaning my heads on his shoulder through much of this book).

While you do not have to have read Savor It by Tarah DeWitt before reading this one, I do recommend it (and if you read The Co-Op you might just get a quick little glimpse of what comes next). Savor It was about Sage and Fisher, and included in the warm and lovely cast of important side characters, is when we first meet Wren and Ellis.

Left of Forever centers around Wren and Ellis and starts relatively at the end of Savor It. After growing up together and a surprise teen pregnancy, Wren and Ellis shared countless happy years together until life did what life does, it happened. Years of pain and personal history spiraled until these realized they’d lost one another and that their marriage had come to an end. But a few years later, and Wren and Ellis find themselves stuck, in life, and maybe on each other. Could it be that the reason these two can’t move on is because they still belong? Will they have enough left of forever? It’s romance, in the deepest realest sort of way. Life gets in the way, parenting is hard, and responsibilities pile, amongst all of that can they find their way back to one another?

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC prior to release date. I was a little hesitant as I wasn’t too big of a fan of her last book, but boy I am glad I read this one. It was a really good 2nd chance romance between 2 adults that couldn’t figure out how to stay together as they were childhood sweethearts. The road trip and how Ellis put everything together and worked on himself as a person to show Wren that they could try again was great and kept the back half of the book to be swoon worthy.

5 stars. No notes. Pure perfection. The pining was top tier and so refreshing. The moment I realized the meaning of the title was such an emotional rush.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy. I don’t even know where to start, this book was perfection! I loved every single moment every word I read. This was about second chance love, learning to communicate, being vulnerable with another, falling in love again and believing in others. I enjoyed how they write letter to each other and shared journal entries. It felt like stepping in to familiar shoes, made it feel relatable and real. I will recommend this to friends! I highlighted so many part of this book, and I look forward to a copy when it is released.

When I tell you this has now become my favorite contemporary romance of all time.....
I've been a longtime fan of DeWitt's writing but this book blew it out of the water for me. The way she captures such raw emotions and the ups and downs of being in a long term relationship had me in literal tears. I loved this so much. The characters, the story, the second chances, the hope, the chemistry and intimacy. Wow. All the stars from me!

Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC

Not to be dramatic, but this is my new favorite romance of all time. I waited a few days to write this review in case there was some recency bias, but nope, I am confident in my claim.

Ultimately, this is a story about two people trying to make their way back to each other while navigating their history of love, loss, grief and emotional distance. The complicated feelings of still loving someone while knowing you can’t reach them were so nuanced and real.

There are so many things I love about Wren and Ellis’s story. I’m not usually a huge fan of nicknames in books, but Ellis calling Wren Byrd throughout the entire thing, even when they were apart, was such a layered choice that I am now converted. I love that the catalyst for Ellis attempting to get Wren back could have been written as this freak chance encounter, but the amount of work and effort they both put in to get back to each other, and how intentional they both were in talking everything through and making all of the right decisions together, made this that much more special. None of that, however, took away from the slow building tension and giddiness of their story. DeWitt’s prose is emotional, poignant and thoughtful, but never felt overly flowery or poetic. Ellis was solid and earnest. I love how much effort he put into being a better partner to Wren and giving her everything she deserved. And Wren was such a beautiful balance of self respecting, compassionate, and hopeful.

Savor It was one of my favorite books that I read last year, and I was so excited to be back in Spunes with these characters. I did not think anything would top Sage and Fisher’s story, but I am so so happy to be wrong.

Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt is a beautifully written, emotionally captivating novel. The story flows effortlessly, blending heartfelt moments with just the right amount of tension. DeWitt’s engaging writing keeps you hooked from start to finish, leaving a lasting impression. Highly recommended for anyone seeking an unforgettable read.

It’s already time for a reread. This is how you do a second chance romance. I loved seeing Wren and Ellis find their way back to each other and it made me even more excited for the rest of the books in this series.

When I read Savor It last year, it immediately became one of my absolute favorite books. I also immediately needed Wren and Ellis’s second chance love story. Second chance is my favorite trope, and Tarah did it perfectly with this one. The longing and love between Wren and Ellis was so palpable from the very first moment, and seeing the way that they learned to trust each other again healed something in me. Tarah’s writing is always beautiful, and this may just be her best yet. I’m even more in love with Spunes and all its endearing characters after Left of Forever, and I fear I need Tarah to complete the Byrds series now. I must have Silas and Micah’s love stories!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy of this book. Even though it’s only February, I can confidently say it will be among my top favorite reads of the year.

Tarah had an 18-year-old aching for a tumultuous divorce.
It's not her fault she is a brilliant writer. All we can do is as a reader is sit back and wish there were 600 more pages of content. I'd argue that's my only complaint. The book needed to be longer. I wanted all the gory details of their divorce. If we could've somehow added more yearning ( which would be difficult because this book was jam-packed full of yearning) I would be petitioning Amazon for a sixth star to be added just for this book.

Wren and Ellis have my heart! I love a second chance at love story and this story was very relatable in a lot of ways! It was a little too spicy for me personally, but that was really the only thing I didn’t like.

Candidly speaking, tried and didn't like the author's "Savor It" (a 2 star read for me).

Knew this, "Left of Forever", was a sequel set in the same town, featuring another Byrd sibling and was wary about it. Sure, one of my now fave voices in romance "Jessica Joyce" endorsed it but have disagreed in past with other authors' endorsements.

The blurb is what drew my interest in the end. The challenge of an delivering a viable second chance romance especially one in which the characters were married, still shared ties to the same town and extended family remained a connecting bond. Can she sell it? Stirp away the hurt, the frustration, and even the anger of both characters. Replace those messy emotions with a renewed faith and love. She succeeded by allowing reasonable amounts of times to lapse from Thanksgiving (he finally indulged in one of her tasty desserts) to their road trip after Sam's graduation. She succeeded by letting their smexy times balance out with their emotional reconnection.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wren and Ellis became best friends at age 5, fell in love at age 16, got pregnant at 17, and became adults together parenting both their baby Sam, as well as Ellis’ younger siblings when his dad died. But five years ago, after growing more and more distant, no fights, no sharing of feelings, Wren asked for a divorce. Since then, they have co-parented and spent holidays together with Ellis’ family, but both are broken-hearted.

When it’s time to drop Sam off at college, Ellis talks Wren into doing a weeklong roadtrip back home. He is honest with her. He’s not over her and wants a chance to work through all the pain and secrets from the end of their marriage to see if there is any possibility that they can rebuild their lives together.

I read “Savor It” shortly after it came out last year, and while I definitely enjoyed Sage and Fisher, Wren and Ellis’ stole my attention in the background. But Tarah DeWitt doesn’t write interconnected series so I knew I was doomed to never know the details. What a happy surprise when this book was announced!

I love the “marriage in trouble” trope and while this marriage has technically been over for five years, it had all the same elements and I loved it: deep love, pining, digging through old hurts and making themselves vulnerable. It was really beautiful to watch Wren and Ellis be truly open and honest and not play games.

This book is open door with three or four spicy scenes, starting with a flashback early on in the book.

This is a wonderfully refreshing romance novel and I will happily continue to read anything Tarah DeWitt writes. I read this as an ARC via NetGalley; it releases in May so make sure to add it to your TBR.

Wow, this book was pure perfection from start to finish. I was a little iffy because Savor It did bore me from time to time BUT THIS?! Complete opposite. I couldn’t put it down, I neeeeeeded to know what was going to happen in this relationship, fully invested. I loved the longing and pining in this book, it made me squeal and curl my toes.
I cried multiple times which is a major plus whenever I find a book that makes me feel things. The ending actually had me sobbing looking like an absolute mess.
Yes yes yes a million stars, YES!!!

This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2025, and it did not disappoint. The Byrd family and the Spunes community are so vibrant, brimming with life and love. Ellis and Wren’s story was everything they deserved—redemption, love, spice, and an epic road trip. I adored this continuation of Tarah Dewitt’s Savor It. While it could stand alone, it’s even sweeter as a follow-up.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC e-read in exchange for my honest review.

I really am at a loss for words about this book. B.K. Borison was one of the first authors I read when I promised myself to get into reading again, starting with the Co-Op (I see you Deacon & LaRynn) and then pretty much ate up any and all of her other books I could find.

When Savor It came out I ate up Sage and Fisher's story (always a sucker for a single parent trope) but i remember vividly coming across that town meeting scene when Ellis reminds everyone Wren is “still a Byrd”. I knew immediately I needed their story like I needed my next breath.

Honestly, I'm torn between wanting to tell everyone every devastating detail and just keeping my mouth shut because it's so good that no amount of raving about it here will actually live up to it.

It had me laughing, crying practically every single chapter, breaking my heart, and putting it back together. B.K. Borison has, in my opinion, always been the queen of second chance romances and pining, and Left of Forever basically put all of her talent and expertise on perfect display.

I can't emphasize this enough: You need to read this book!